New York's walk-off win over Miami Thursday afternoon resulted from a consequential hit-by-pitch ruling during Michael Conforto's at-bat in the 9th inning. Article: [ Ссылка ]

With the score tied at two and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning, Conforto stepped to the plate against Marlins pitcher Anthony Bass as a 1-2 pitch sailed toward the upper inside corner of the strike zone.

Having initially started his strike three mechanic, HP Umpire Kulpa abruptly reversed course and ruled that Conforto had been hit by the pitch and should be awarded first base as a result.

Official Baseball Rule 5.05(b)(2)(A) states that when a batter is touched by a pitched ball located in the strike zone, the ball shall be dead and a strike added to the count. If Don Mattingly were to protest this game based on Kulpa's decision, his only hope would be if Kulpa indeed awarded Conforto first base despite the pitch location: strike call. If Kulpa were to say in his report to MLB that his decision was that the ball was actually located outside of the strike zone/off the plate, then the protest would be denied (since judgment calls regarding pitch location or "did the batter lean into the pitch?" are not subject to protest or review).

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